I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 105

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 105

 

On the swaying tree branches, a small squirrel scurried back and forth. The creature that had been running around searching for acorns suddenly startled and fled deep into the forest.

 

Remal, who had been sitting without the slightest movement, chuckled softly.

 

Her ashen skin looked quite out of place in the forest, but with no presence detectable at all, she would be difficult to spot. If darkness were to descend upon the forest like this, it would be a stealth technique that no one could notice.

 

Remal’s red eyes turned toward one location again.

 

The expedition’s garrison confronting the curtain of ‘darkness’. After the incident at the Golden Star Trading Company, Remal had been continuously monitoring them.

 

“….”

 

Suddenly sensing a change, Remal slightly raised her body.

 

The gait of the soldiers moving between the barracks was different from usual. Befitting a place where hundreds of people were stationed, an eerie tension hung over what should have been a fairly bustling garrison.

 

Carriages kept rolling in from somewhere. Figures wearing pressed robes and priests dressed in white clothes were also gradually increasing in number.

 

Something was about to begin.

 

Remal had a hunch.

 

It was the season when days grew shorter. She who had been quietly observing the garrison jumped down from the tree as soon as darkness fell. Despite landing from a height of dozens of meters, only a small wind sound could be heard.

 

The outskirts of the barracks. The security that had gradually become lax over several months had become thorough again, but no one noticed Remal who seemed to have become one with the darkness.

 

“This tedious tent life is finally coming to an end.”

“Well. Whether it’s tent life that’s ending, or our lives.”

 

Trickle.

 

Along with the sound of water streaming down, the soldiers’ chatter could be heard. She eavesdropped on their conversation while holding her breath.

 

“It would be fortunate if we could clear that thing away, but who knows how dangerous the process will be.”

“You fool. What’s there to fear when the Hero is with us?”

“The Hero will be fine. But we don’t know what will happen to small fry like us.”

 

The end of tent life. A dangerous situation. The Hero.

 

A faint smile appeared on Remal’s lips. The expedition had finally found a way to break through the darkness.

 

However, instead of returning to Jude, she delved deeper into the garrison. What she finally reached was the mages’ barracks.

 

A barrier had been set up to prevent sounds from inside from escaping, but the level of barrier temporarily set up in such a tent couldn’t block elven senses.

 

‘The repulsion effect from the collision between holy power and mana creates a path. The maintenance time doesn’t seem long. Quite a bit of practice is needed for control.’

 

Remal held her breath and pieced together the information flowing out.

 

‘There seems to be an opinion about converting mana to magic power to maximize the repulsion effect, but… it was shot down.’

 

The mages jokingly attempted ideological verification on the one who voiced the opinion, asking if he wasn’t a dark mage, if he wasn’t a demon follower. Soon laughter burst out from inside the barracks, making Remal frown.

 

The mages who had just arrived at the garrison today continued their meeting for hours. Only when it was deep into the dawn did Remal slip out of the garrison.

 

‘Lord Jude must be waiting.’

 

Wind blew through the garrison again.

 

One soldier on night watch was startled and looked around.

 

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, the wind is a bit cold.”

 

The soldier grumbled and began dozing off again.

 

It couldn’t exactly be called proper work attitude, but it didn’t matter.

 

Their enemy wasn’t fellow humans, after all.

 

* * *

 

“They already found a method?”

 

I had heard from Dahan that the expedition was looking for an attack method. But only a few days had passed since then, and they’d already found a way.

 

Perhaps the expedition included quite an outstanding mage. Maybe it was Shtidy. When she was at the Green Magic Tower, she was an excellent senior.

 

“The repulsion force generated by colliding mana and holy power temporarily pushes back the darkness.”

“Repulsion force…”

 

Many people know that a dark mage’s magic power repels holy power, but they don’t easily think that mana would have the same effect.

 

However, mana is also a force with completely different properties from holy power. Naturally, even if not as much as magic power, some degree of repulsion effect occurs.

 

But to think that could become a method to attack the darkness. Has the principle not been revealed yet?

 

“It would have been more effective if there was a dark mage.”

“….”

“Why?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

 

Remal, who had been looking at me for a moment, shook her head. As usual, no expression appeared on her face, so I couldn’t guess what she was thinking.

 

But why was I feeling bad about this?

 

“There probably isn’t much time left until the expedition makes their move.”

“Yes. It seemed like practice was needed to properly maintain the repulsion effect, but it looks like they’ll enter within a week at most.”

“A week….”

 

It’s a tight schedule. And that’s at most a week, so it wouldn’t be strange if they departed tomorrow. It’s not a situation where preparations need to be completed within that time, but rather where preparations should already be finished.

 

“And?”

“The moment they reach the center, Hero Johnny is scheduled to finish it with the holy sword.”

 

It’s a simple plan. So simple that it’s hard to find fault with it.

 

“If things go wrong, the damage could be considerable.”

 

Since Johnny had inherited the Hero’s fate, I didn’t think he would fail. But to put it extremely, everyone except Johnny could die.

 

-There’s no need to interfere.

“What?”

-If you stay put, the problem will resolve itself. You’ll only suffer losses by interfering unnecessarily. If things go wrong, you might have to hand your body over to me again – are you okay with that?

 

The Demon Lord said.

 

Certainly. Since I’m not officially participating in the expedition, the possibility of being exposed to danger is higher. If things go wrong, I could face a life-threatening crisis.

 

“Good. Let’s interfere.”

 

I hadn’t stayed here for several months just to watch Johnny defeat the Great Demon, had I?

 

The Great Demon is my share. I have no intention of letting Johnny take it. And if Shtidy and Albeng died, I felt like I wouldn’t be in a very good mood.

 

And most of all, since the Demon Lord was trying to stop me, I felt like I absolutely had to do it.

 

“Would that be possible?”

 

I smiled confidently at Remal’s question.

 

“Are you testing me?”

 

Of course I’m not confident. But I didn’t voice that out loud.

 

All the things I’d experienced so far had been too much for me to handle. But somehow I’d managed. I’d survived. This time the situation wasn’t great either, but I didn’t think it was worse than other times.

 

“Ice Spirit.”

 

Even during the time when almost two seasons had changed, the Ice Spirit hadn’t awakened. It was natural since it hadn’t absorbed the souls needed for recovery. But.

 

Cold energy rises up through my hand.

 

I couldn’t tell if the Ice Spirit was responding or if it was the influence of using Spirit Summoning. Compared to when I fought the dragon, it’s only a weak power, but it’s certain that even this alone would be a considerable help to my overall strength.

 

Besides, this time I’ll be able to receive some help from the World Tree too.

 

“Let’s wait near the expedition for now.”

“Understood. But….”

 

Remal said, pointing at my hand.

 

“The weather’s cold too, can’t you do something about that?”

“…Wait a moment. Hmm, there.”

 

The move proceeded quickly. Since there wasn’t much luggage to begin with, we just needed to move our bodies.

 

We settled in the forest near the expedition base and hid our bodies with the World Tree’s help. Though there was the disadvantage of not being able to light fires, it was optimal for avoiding the eyes of common soldiers.

 

Occasionally Paladins or Mages would join the patrols, but I managed to get by with Deception. Each time, I could hear the Demon Lord laughing.

 

I didn’t need to worry about it. If I paid attention to every one of that guy’s reactions, nothing would get done. He was definitely doing it on purpose, hoping my nerves would get frayed.

 

When night came, I regretted not positioning ourselves a bit further away.

 

Explosive sounds burst out without rest. It was the sound of over a hundred Mages and Priests practicing. If it was this noisy even with this much distance between us, I wondered how it must be for the people involved.

 

And two days passed.

 

“They’re moving.”

 

From early morning, the expedition began to move. They packed up their tents and formed ranks. Someone climbed onto the platform.

 

It was too far to see clearly, but from the circumstances, it seemed to be Johnny. The cheers that followed his short speech were quite loud.

 

“But you know what. Are soldiers necessary?”

 

That question suddenly occurred to me.

 

The opponent is a Great Demon from the Mythical Age. A monster that covered the Holy Nation in darkness. Knights who handle aura might be one thing, but what help could common soldiers possibly provide by following the expedition?

 

“Since it’s something humans are doing, it wouldn’t be rational, would it?”

-The soldiers are important.

 

Behind Remal’s voice naturally making a racially discriminatory remark, the Demon Lord spoke.

 

-Those things need to survive and praise the Hero’s achievements, don’t they?

“…Is that important?”

-It’s not because of a desire for honor. The more humans there are babbling about the Hero’s greatness, the less it costs the Goddess to create Heroes. But, well.

 

The Demon Lord added with a chuckle.

 

-Since they’re humans, it might just be simple desire for honor.

 

The Demon Lord also didn’t hesitate to make racially discriminatory remarks. How am I supposed to live as the human listening to this?

 

Our idle chatter was brief. Before we knew it, considerable tension could be felt from those who had reached the Darkness Boundary.

 

“Let’s approach slowly.”

 

Mana and holy power moved. It was roughly enough to use one intermediate-level magic spell. The two precisely calculated forces converged at a single point, then exploded.

 

It opened.

 

The darkness split apart, revealing the hidden land beyond. Those who had been cheering soon fell silent. The mages and priests paid no mind and moved forward. The soldiers hesitated before following behind.

 

“…?”

 

An incomprehensible sight. But everyone had already disappeared through the split gap. There was no time to think.

 

I reached the boundary of darkness while suppressing my presence as much as possible.

 

“This is…”

 

Only then could I understand why the soldiers had stopped cheering.

 

It was gruesome. Far too gruesome.

 

Withered and twisted corpses were scattered all around. Not a few had burst from the effects of the repulsion. They were all human.

 

Those who couldn’t escape when the Great Demon’s darkness swallowed the Holy Nation Capital. And those who were caught and devoured later while trying to watch.

 

I could see at a glance what happened to people swallowed by darkness. They seemed to have lost all their senses and died of starvation or took their own lives, unable to escape.

 

There wouldn’t be many who could cheer at seeing such a thing. Especially when they could end up in the same situation with just one small mistake.

 

“Lord Jude.”

 

Remal shook my shoulder.

 

“We must hurry. It’s coming back soon.”

 

She wasn’t talking about the expedition party. The darkness that had been pushed back by the repulsion of mana and holy power was returning to its original position. The gruesome corpses gradually disappeared into the darkness.

 

“…Right.”

 

I had a bitter taste in my mouth.

 

It only got worse as time passed. After walking for hours straight, when a familiar small village came into view. When I passed by the blue roof that was faintly visible…

 

I closed my eyes for just a moment.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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